Red Moscow

Sokov's idea is very simple. Even if Christopher's physical condition is not suitable for carrying out the mission, rebuilding the reconnaissance company is imminent. In any case, it is more reliable to go to the enemy's rear to conduct reconnaissance. Professionals are more reliable.

Just as Christopher was about to leave, Ivanov, who was silent beside him, stopped him, then turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, I don't think it is necessary to rebuild the reconnaissance company."

"Why?" Sokov asked curiously.

"There is a ready-made reconnaissance company in the division." Ivanov explained to Sokov: "Although there are only more than 30 people left, and even the platoon commanders have sacrificed, it is still a complete organizational system. Soldiers They are old scouts with rich experience, as long as they are sent a new commander, they will soon be able to play a role again."

"Is there a ready-made reconnaissance company in the division?" Sokov turned his head to look at Sidolin, and asked wonderingly: "Chief of Staff, hasn't Lieutenant Christopher's reconnaissance company been completely lost? When will the reconnaissance company be rebuilt?" , why didn't I know about this?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Sidolin shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and replied with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, I really can't answer your question, and I don't know how the deputy division commander Where did the reconnaissance company come from?"

Seeing that Sokov and Sidolin looked stunned, Ivanov quickly coughed heavily, and then explained to the two: "Master, Chief of Staff, the lost reconnaissance company you mentioned , belongs to the 73rd Infantry Brigade; and the reconnaissance company I am talking about belongs to the troops directly under the 41st Guards Division."

After Ivanov's explanation, Sokov and Sidolin realized that they had commanded the 41st Guards Division for so long, and they didn't know that there was a reconnaissance company in the troops directly under the division. However, since there is a ready-made reconnaissance company, there is really no need to reorganize it. Anyway, Ivanov just said that the company's platoon commanders have all died, and they are in a leaderless state. When the company commander.

Thinking of this, Sokov said to Ivanov with a smile on his face: "Comrade deputy division commander, since it is your old unit, can you see if you can take Christopher on a trip and let him and the company Soldiers meet?"

"No problem, I'll take the lieutenant there." Ivanov readily agreed to Sokov's request, walked to Christopher's side, shook his head at him, and said, "Let's go, lieutenant." Comrade, I will take you to meet your new subordinate."

After solving the problem of the reconnaissance company, Sokov suddenly felt much more relaxed. He pointed to the map and said to Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, after Guchakov's squad returns from the enemy's rear, send a reconnaissance company to go deep into the enemy's rear for reconnaissance. The area they are active in should be the same as that of the factory area." Focus on the west, and find out the deployment of German forces in these areas."

Regarding Sokov's order, Sidolin showed a surprised expression on his face. He tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, why did you send a reconnaissance company to these areas for reconnaissance?" On the front of Fugang and the south of the city, I put forward my own opinion, "I think even if we want to send a reconnaissance company to carry out missions, we should also operate in these areas. After all, this is the defense area of ​​our division."

"Chief of Staff, keep your eyes open and don't always stare at the area in front of you." Sokov knew very well that during the big counteroffensive in November, the old city in the south of the city was the activity area of ​​the 64th Army Group , Sending people there to conduct reconnaissance is tantamount to making wedding dresses for others. He tapped the map twice with his palm, and continued: "Although the enemy is now heavily concentrated in the west of the factory area, it won't be long before our division may go deep into that area and fight with the Germans." Let's fight fiercely."

Hearing what Sokov said, Sidolin suddenly thought of a possibility, and quickly asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, did you hear any gossip from your superiors?"

"No, Chief of Staff, I haven't heard anything." Of course, Sokov would not tell Sidolin that the combat areas of the 62nd and 64th armies were learned from history books by himself, so he could only vaguely describe them. Said: "I analyze it based on the situation of the enemy and ourselves."

Although Sidolin felt that Sokov's explanation was too far-fetched, he still chose to believe it. After all, many of Sokov's previous judgments were almost correct, and this time would be no exception. Thinking of this, he couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Commander, tell me, when will our army launch a major counterattack?"

"Chief of Staff, you must know that at least two infantry divisions have been assembled on the east bank." After Sokov finished speaking, he paused for a moment. After the other party nodded to show his understanding, he continued: " The reason why the superiors did not immediately send them into the city is probably because they are preparing to leave them as the main force of the counterattack. To defeat the enemy attacking the city, it is not enough to rely on infantry alone. Artillery, tank soldiers and air force are also needed. And to gather these troops , and hoarding combat supplies will definitely take a certain amount of time, that is to say, the counterattack against the enemy will take at least a month before it can start.”

"Comrade commander, I think you should be very clear about the situation in the factory area. The troops standing on the barricade factory and the Dzerzhinsky factory, facing the enemy's powerful offensive, can only continuously shrink the defense zone and try their best Delay the speed of the enemy's advance to the Volga River." Sidolin said with a bitter face: "I'm afraid they won't be able to last for a month."

"The friendly forces defending the factory area did fight very hard." Sokov stared at the map on the table and said thoughtfully, "However, in order to defend this city named after the Supreme Commander himself, they will continue to They fought tenaciously. It was not an easy task for the Germans to destroy them."

What Sokov said was not aimless. Although the German army, which has an advantage in terms of military strength and firepower, may beat the defenders into a mess in the next battle, just like the real history, but they still cannot occupy the city. He led the troops to firmly occupy the Mamayev post, which has completely disrupted the German offensive deployment. Now, he has sent a small unit led by Guchakov to go deep into the enemy's rear to carry out activities, which will turn the enemy's rear upside down, and then force the enemy to be unable to attack the factory area with all his strength, so as to fight for the friendly forces standing there. To the precious respite.

"Chief of Staff, call the Third Battalion Commander, Captain Andre, and find out about the situation in the south of the city." Sokov told Sidolin: "See if they need our assistance."

The call was connected quickly. After hearing Sidolin's voice, Andrei immediately admitted his mistake to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you know everything, right? This incident is all my fault, and it was caused by it." I am willing to take responsibility for all consequences."

"Comrade Captain, what are you talking about? I don't understand what you mean." Sidolin was confused by Andre's words, and he asked puzzledly, "What are you talking about?"

Sokov guessed that something must have happened in the third battalion, otherwise Captain Andre would not have confessed his mistake to Sidolin so proactively, so he took the microphone in Sidolin's hand and asked, "Comrade Captain, what happened?" What's the matter?"

"It's like this, Comrade Commander." Hearing that the person talking to him was replaced by a teacher, Andre couldn't help but secretly groaned in his heart. He hurriedly explained: "Didn't you inform me yesterday that the commander of the Ninth Company led someone to disguise himself as a Germans, are you going to penetrate our defense zone and go deep into the enemy's rear?"

"That's right, I did notify you." Sokov asked back, "Did something happen?"

Andre said with some guilt: "Yesterday when the armored convoy passed the Ninth Company's defense zone, it was discovered by soldiers hiding in the ruins. He thought it was the enemy, so he shot and threw grenades at the convoy."

"What are you talking about, Comrade Captain? The armored convoy led by Guchakov was attacked by our own people when it passed through the Ninth Company's defense zone?" Sokov was taken aback and asked quickly: "What the hell is going on? What happened, didn't I already ask you to notify the following to avoid misunderstandings, how could such a thing happen?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, it's all my fault." Andre said: "After I received your call, I immediately sent someone to convey it. However, some soldiers scattered in the ruins did not get it in time. Notice. If the soldier who fired the gun hadn’t come back to report, I wouldn’t have known about it.”

Sokov didn't bother to blame Andrei, but asked with concern: "Comrade Captain, is anyone in the convoy injured?"

"I asked Lieutenant Guchakov, and he said that two people were injured, but they were not seriously injured, but were scratched by shrapnel from the grenade." Andrei reported to Sokov: "Fortunately, the soldier who shot, He is a worker who has just been incorporated into the army, and his marksmanship is not very accurate, otherwise the casualties of the squad will definitely be serious."

"Thank goodness, it's just that the soldier's marksmanship was inaccurate." Knowing that only two soldiers were slightly injured, Sokov felt relieved. What a lot of casualties."

"How's the situation in the south of the city recently?" Although Sokov knew that the fighting in the south of the city was not intense, but after finally calling Andrei, he couldn't help but ask, "Is the battle intense?"

"Fortunately, we only had a small-scale exchange of fire with the enemy recently." Hearing Sokov ask about the battle in the south of the city, Andre said proudly: "We killed more than 400 enemies in three days."

"More than 400 enemies were killed in three days?" Sokov was still surprised by the results of the third battalion: "Comrade Captain, didn't you say that there was no major battle, how could so many enemies be wiped out?" According to Sokov's thinking, without a major battle, it is impossible to wipe out the enemy on a large scale, so Andre's results surprised him.

"Comrade commander, in fact, most of the results of the battle were achieved by the Vasily Building." Hearing Sokov's question, Andrei quickly explained to him: "Sergeant Vasily left enough men to stick to the building, and he Then take a few sniper teams, go deep into the area where the enemy is concentrated, and shoot cold shots, and every time they can get the result of destroying fifty or sixty enemies."

Sokov originally thought that letting Vasily lead the troops to defend the famous building would affect his sniper performance. Unexpectedly, after only a few days of absence, Vasily led his subordinates to achieve such a remarkable result.

"Vassily is really amazing." Sokov nodded and said, "I just didn't expect that he could achieve such a great result in such a short period of time. Tell him, and I will, at the right time, Find him at Vasily's Building."

"Comrade Commander," Andrei hurriedly stopped him when he learned that Sokov was coming to the old town in the south of the city again: "This place is too dangerous, I think you should not come here."

"Why, Comrade Captain." Sokov knew that Andre said this out of good intentions, so he said jokingly: "Soldiers are not afraid of danger. As a teacher, can I be greedy for life and afraid of death?"

Now that Sokov had already said this, Andrei knew that there was no point in objecting any more, so he could only say helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Commander, when you plan to come, please let me know in advance, I will help you." Arrange for someone to pick you up, so as to avoid another attack on the squad."

"If it's possible, I think it's tonight." Sokov thought for a while before replying, "I haven't been to the old city for a long time. I want to see with my own eyes how things are going there."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Knowing that Sokov would come to inspect at night, Andre quickly said, "I will personally bring someone to meet you."

"No need, Comrade Captain." Sokov rejected Andrei's kindness: "If you come to meet him, the target is too big. If there are German snipers hidden nearby, the two of us will become him." results."

Seeing that Sokov refused his request to welcome him, Andrei felt a little disappointed in his heart. He said, "Well, Comrade Commander, since you said so, I will wait for your arrival at the command post."

"Comrade Commander." Sidolin waited for Sukov to put down the phone, and asked tentatively, "Are you really planning to go to the old town tonight?"

"That's right." Sokov said to him in order to dispel Sidolin's idea of ​​persuading him: "The commanders and fighters of the third battalion have been sticking to the old city. Except for a small amount of food and medicine supplements, they have not received anything decent. It is equivalent to being in a state of being alone all the time. I personally went to the third battalion to let the soldiers understand that they have not been forgotten in the division. They have always been part of our 41st Guards Division in order to boost morale and unite military purpose."

"I understand, Comrade Commander." Sidolin originally wanted to persuade Sokov not to take risks, but he changed his mind after hearing what he said: "I think the soldiers will definitely feel that the Commander appears beside them." Rejoice, and then you will be able to continue to fight the enemy more bravely."